Spa Day – Chapter 7, Act 3, Strip 18

And thus, our friends set foot into the Tomb of Horrors… … … which, fortunately for them, turned out to be really only the Sanctuary of Serenity by another name.

Did you really think I’d send K’ip and Si’ri to the actual Tomb of Horrors? There are limits to my sadism, you know. K’ip and Si’ri might have gained a lot in terms of experience and power, but they still would never be up to that sort of challenge…especially since it’s also an intellectual one, which seems to be an area where they didn’t grow quite that much.

Aside from that, a trip through the actual Tomb of Horrors would easily have consumed several months’ worth of strips…while this little twist was quite compact by comparison. Especially since it didn’t require actually depicting the sanctuary proper. I’m sure you can picture the place sufficiently well in your minds – it’s like a huge wellness spa with pastel colors, warm indirect lighting and soothing music, staffed by friendly, helpful and learned monks, who were able to answer all of K’ip’s and Si’ri’s questions, while taking perfect care of their health and wellness. You don’t get that sort of treatment often on a fantasy adventure! Which was another reason to leave it offscreen…

So, as our friends continue their journey much relaxed and recovered, was is the lesson of today’s strip? It’s a lesson in marketing: when choosing a name for your business establishment, make sure that it isn’t pronounced and/or spelled as something very ominous in the local dialect. >_> Just go to some local bar and ask “Hey, guys…just to make sure, do you spell ‘Joe’s Used Cars Emporium‘ as ‘Dungeon of Despair’ or something around here?” It can never hurt to ask, and save you a lot of missed business in the long run.